The selection of comparators for randomized controlled trials of health-related behavioral interventions: recommendations of an NIH expert panel

Objectives: To provide recommendations for the selection of comparators for randomized controlled trials of health-related behavioral interventions. Study Design and Setting: The National Institutes of Health Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research convened an expert panel to critically review the literature on control or comparison groups for behavioral trials and to develop strategies for improving comparator choices and for resolving controversies and disagreements about comparators. Results: The panel developed a Pragmatic Model for Comparator Selection in Health-Related Behavioral Trials. The model indicates that the optimal comparator is the one that best serves the primary purpose of the trial but that the optimal comparator's limitations and barriers to its use must also be taken into account. Conclusion: We developed best practice recommendations for the selection of comparators for health-related behavioral trials. Use of the Pragmatic Model for Comparator Selection in Health-Related Behavioral Trials can improve the comparator selection process and help resolve disagreements about comparator choices

Decomposing the relationship between cognitive functioning and self-referent memory beliefs in older adulthood: what’s memory got to do with it?

With advancing age, episodic memory performance shows marked declines along with concurrent reports of lower subjective memory beliefs. Given that normative age-related declines in episodic memory co-occur with declines in other cognitive domains, we examined the relationship between m

An empirical investigation on the dynamic processes of activity scheduling and trip chaining

Investigation of the dynamic processes of activity scheduling and trip chaining has been an interest of transportation researchers over the past decade because of its relevance to the effectiveness of congestion management and intelligent transportation systems. To empirically examine the processes, a computerized survey instrument is developed to collect household activity scheduling data. The instrument is unique in that it records the evolution of activity schedules from intentions to final outcomes for a weekly period. This paper summarizes the investigation on the dynamic processes of activity scheduling and trip chaining based on data collected from a pilot study of the instrument. With the data, ordered logit models are applied to identify factors that are pertinent to the scheduling horizon of activities. Results of the empirical analysis show that a daily schedule often starts with certain activities occupying a portion of the schedule and other activities are then arranged around these pre-occupants. Activities of shorter duration are more likely to be opportunistically inserted in a schedule already anchored by their longer duration counterparts. Persons with children often expect more constraining activities than those with no children. The analysis also shows that female respondents tend to be more structured in terms of how the week is planned. Additionally, analysis of travel patterns reveals that many trip-chains are formed opportunistically. Travel time required to reach an activity is positively related to the scheduling horizon for the activity, with more distant stops being planned earlier than closer locations. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2006Travel behavior, Activity-based analysis, Activity scheduling, Trip chaining,